{"id":140,"date":"2025-06-02T20:43:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T11:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/s4q7jq2n.top\/index.php\/2025\/06\/02\/brazils-bolsonaro-to-take-the-stand-in-coup-trial\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T20:43:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T11:43:11","slug":"brazils-bolsonaro-to-take-the-stand-in-coup-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/02\/brazils-bolsonaro-to-take-the-stand-in-coup-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil's Bolsonaro to take the stand in coup trial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes on Monday ordered “the questioning of the accused” — Bolsonaro and others — in “an in-person session” starting Monday next week and running to Friday at the latest. <\/p>\n

Bolsonaro faces a sentence of up to 40 years in prison if convicted.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say Brazil’s president from 2019-2022 led a “criminal organization” plotting to undo the presidential election victory in 2022 of his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.<\/p>\n

The plot failed, the charge sheet says, because of a lack of military backing.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro also stands accused of being aware of a plot to assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and judge Moraes — an arch-foe.<\/p>\n

The court has heard from dozens of witnesses for the prosecution and defense, including senior military officials, former ministers, police officers, and intelligence officials in hearings that started last month.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro, 70, denies any role in a coup attempt and claims to be a victim of political persecution.<\/p>\n

Two former military commanders have told the court Bolsonaro had presented them with a plan to prevent Lula from taking power. Both refused to go along.<\/p>\n

Former army commander General Marco Antonio Freire Gomes testified he had attended a meeting with Bolsonaro at the presidential residence in December 2022 where the declaration of a “state of siege” was discussed as a means of justifying military intervention after Lula’s election victory.<\/p>\n

“I warned him (Bolsonaro) that he could have serious problems, with judicial implications,” Gomes told the court.<\/p>\n

For his part, former air force chief Carlos de Almeida Baptista Junior said he had threatened to have Bolsonaro arrested if he carried out plans to oust Lula.<\/p>\n

For the defense, Bolsonaro’s infrastructure minister Tarcisio de Freitas, told the trial his boss had “never touched” on the subject of a coup or “mentioned any attempt at constitutional disruption.”<\/p>\n

And Senator Ciro Nogueira, who had served as Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, testified the former president had “under no circumstances” demonstrated coup intentions.<\/p>\n

‘Last hope’<\/p>\n

The hearings have also examined the riots of January 8, 2023, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters sacked key government buildings demanding a military intervention to oust Lula a week after his inauguration. <\/p>\n

Bolsonaro was in the United States at the time, but is suspected of having been behind the riots prosecutors say were the coup plotters’ “last hope.”<\/p>\n

Next week’s hearings will see the accused take turns in the stand — seven defendants including Bolsonaro — as well as an eighth, former aide Mauro Cid, who has turned state’s witness.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro, who recently underwent abdominal surgery to treat problems arising from a 2018 knife attack, has said a conviction in the case would amount to a “death penalty — political and physical.” <\/p>\n

He had repeatedly stated his intention to seek the presidency again in elections next year, despite a ban on him holding office until 2030 over his baseless criticism of Brazil’s electronic voting system.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro remains the most popular politician on the right of the political spectrum in an ideologically deeply-divided country.<\/p>\n

Next week’s examination of the accused will be followed by a summation from prosecutors and final arguments by defense attorneys.<\/p>\n

It could be months before the five-member court gives a final ruling.<\/p>\n

Several former Brazilian presidents have had legal entanglements since the end of the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, but Bolsonaro is the first to face coup charges.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2025 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bras\u00edlia (AFP) \u2013 <\/span> Brazil’s rightwing former president Jair Bolsonaro will take the stand next week in his trial on charges of trying to stage a coup to retain power after an election loss, as the proceedings enter a new phase. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Issued on: 02\/06\/2025 – 22:43<\/span>Modified: 02\/06\/2025 – 22:41<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/span> 2 min Reading time<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"Brazil's<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-db"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudfclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}